In south east of District Anantnag is the Breng Pargana named after a great saint and scholar Brengesh who has authored Brengesh Samhita. The very first village of Breng Pargana is the famous village of Akingam where the Shrine of Jagad Amba Shri Shiva Bhagwati is situated.
Akingam is ten kilometers from Anantnag town enroute the world famous tourist resorts of Achhabal and Kokernag. The shrine of Goddess Shiva is situated at the top of the village near the foot hills of a big forest full of lush green Devdar trees and valvet like pastures. The sanctity of the shrine can be guessed from the fact that it is the one among the only four shrines of the state of Jammu and Kashmir that has been assigned a chunk of forest land as Jagir which stands within its revenue records.
The ancient place of the shrine is on the other side of the top of the hill within the dense forest about four kilometers from the present place of the shrine and is called Baj Bawani. It is said that a staunch devotee of Mata Shiva used to come from Shahabad Pargana to pay obeisance at Baj Bawani. Due to old age and abnormal health conditions he was unable to ascend the hill for Darshan of Jagat Amba. As such he felt distressed but was longing for the Darshan of the Goddess Shiva.
In holy Bhagwat Gita Lord Krishna narrates to Arjuna that the true devotion of Sadhaka makes the lord to appear before him. As such the real devotion of the old aged devotee of Jagat Amba made the Goddess to appear in his dream, consoled him and narrated that “you donot need to come to the hill top instead I am coming down near the foot of the hill at a place where you can see a crow with Golden wings crowing on a hawthorn (Ring) tree underneath you can locate a Shilla.” As per the directions of the Goddess Shiva the Sadhaka went to that place on Ashad Shukla Pakh ditya and saw a golden winged crow crowing on the said tree under which he found the Shilla which is the present place of shrine and is locally called Bawani Bal.
The shrine of Jagat Amba Shri Shiva Bhagwati is a Shiv and Shakti Sathla. Ashta Buja Goddess Shiva is seated on a lotus underneath a star, with Tridents, Skull, Veda, Rosary, Khadak, Gadha and Conch in her hands spreading peace, bliss, tranquility, contentment, wisdom and prosperity to all. The shrine comprised a temple Dhoni Sahiba and a big Dhramshalla which could accommodate at least two thousand pilgrims at a time. The whole complex was within its forest area of about 110 kanals or more. Containing atleast three thousand extremely tall and big sized Devdar trees which spoke the history of the shrine itself. Three grand festivals of Ram Navmi, Maha Navmi and Ashad Ditya were celebrated at Akinjam on which thousands of pilgrims used to visit the shrine.
On Ashad Ditya the Bhagats of Mohripoora were supposed to play the folk dance jashan within the temple premises. Being the Kul Devi (Yesht Devi) of Lakhs of Kashmiri Pandits the devotees used to visit the shrine throughout the year to pay their obeisance. After the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley there was no one to look after the shrine as a result, the whole complex of the shrine i.e. temple, Dhoni Sahiba, Dhramshalla including the Devdar trees within its forest area were devastated.
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